Immigration Executive Action Impact on the States: Delaware

The series of executive actions on immigration, which President Obama announced on November 20, 2014, promises to benefit the U.S. economy. Most, though not all, of these economic gains would flow from the two deferred action initiatives: Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA), which will grant temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to some unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which offers the same relief to qualified young adults who were brought to the United States as children. This fact sheet provides a snapshot of what executive action will mean for Delaware, including the potential number of applicants for the deferred action initiatives, and the economic benefits DAPA and DACA will bring to the state. The fact sheet also provides background on the immigrant, Latino, and Asian population in Delaware and their current contributions to the state’s economy.

Estimates of the population eligible to participate in executive action programs vary, but represent only a small portion of the total number of immigrants in Delaware.

Estimates of the population eligible to participate in DAPA in Delaware range from 8,000, according to theMigration Policy Institute (MPI), to 8,500, according to the Center for Migration Studies (CMS).
Estimates of the population eligible to participate in DACA in Delaware range from 1,500, according to CMS, to 3,000, according to MPI.
Estimates of Delaware’s total unauthorized population range from 20,000 in 2012, according to the Pew Research Center, to 21,000 in 2013, according to CMS, and to 24,000, according to MPI.
In 2013, there were a total of 76,768 foreign-born persons in Delaware, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Executive action will help grow Delaware’s economy by several hundred million dollars.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) found that the executive action on immigration will grow the U.S. economy by $90 billion to $210 billion over the next 10 years. Given Delaware’s current share of the U.S. economy, CEA’s estimate implies that the actions will increase Delaware’s GDP by $330 million to $780 million over the next 10 years.

Executive action on immigration exists within a broader context in which immigrants, Latinos, and Asians contribute to Delaware.

Delaware has a growing immigrant population, many of whom are Latino or Asian. The foreign-born share of Delaware’s population rose from 3.3% in 1990, to 5.7% in 2000, to 8.3% in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2013, 29.8% of Delaware’s foreign-born population was of Latino origin and 30.5% of the state’s foreign-born were Asian.
The vast majority of children with immigrant parents are U.S. citizens. In 2009, 83.9% of Delaware children with immigrant parents were U.S. citizens, according to data from the Urban Institute. In 2009, 84.9% of children in Asian families in Delaware were U.S. citizens, as were 87.7% of children in Latino families.
The purchasing power of Latinos and Asians in Delaware has grown substantially over the past 25 years. The 2012 purchasing power of Latinos in Delaware totaled $1.6 billion—an increase of 755% since 1990. Asian buying power totaled $1.6 billion—an increase of 834% since 1990, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
Latino- and Asian-owned businesses are contributing to the state’s economy, including by creating jobs.Delaware’s 1,533 Latino-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $339.9 million and employed 2,129 people in 2007, the last year for which data is available. The state’s 2,989 Asian-owned businesses had sales and receipts of $1.3 billion and employed 5,523 people in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. In 2010, 10.5 percent of all business owners in Delaware were foreign-born.
Unauthorized immigrants are paying millions of dollars in state and local taxes. Unauthorized immigrants in Delaware paid $12.1 million in state and local taxes in 2010, including $6.3 million in sales taxes, $4.5 million in state income taxes, and $1.3 million in property taxes, according to data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Were unauthorized immigrants in Delaware to have legal status, they would pay $17.4 million in state and local taxes, including $6.4 million in sales taxes, $9.6 million in state income taxes, and $1.4 million in property taxes.
Deporting all unauthorized immigrants would adversely affect Delaware’s economy. If all unauthorizedimmigrants were removed from Delaware, the state would lose $949 million in economic activity, $421.5 million in gross state product, and approximately 6,300 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time, according to a report by the Perryman Group.